The term art encompasses a vast amount of media, including visual arts, storytelling media, literature and film. Art encompasses all media created by the expression of skill or imagination. Imagination is a vast arena, in which anything is possible. Because anything is possible within imagination, art has the power to reflect an ideal world, rather than the flawed reality we live in.
Art has the power to reflect and ultimately shape society. Art is a snapshot of a cultural moment; it is reflective of the culture we live in, the values of our culture, who is given power and who lacks power. Art, as often said, is therefore political.
Because of art’s power in society, it raises the question of what art’s role should be, whether media such as film or literature should reflect the realities of society, or serve a more imaginative role for what society should ideally look like. I would argue art can serve both purposes: to reflect society but also to offer a plane of imagination for people to dream. Art can depict our flawed society and carry hope and optimism simultaneously.
In literature, art has served as a way for artists to depict life as it is. August Wilson was a renowned African American playwright famous for his play series, “The Century Cycle,” a body of ten plays, each from a decade of the 20th century.
“From Romare Bearden I learned that the fullness and richness of everyday life can be rendered without compromise or sentimentality,” Wilson said.
One of Wilson’s most famous plays, “Fences,” demonstrates the fullness and richness of everyday life. Set in 1950s Pittsburgh, Fences chronicles the story of Troy Maxon, an African American father and husband who builds emotional fences between him and his family. Wilson drew on his personal experiences growing up in Pittsburgh, lending the story authenticity.
Wilson’s play captures everyday life in the 1950s with astounding realism, so much that his work feels like a portal into the past. The language, the dialect, the passion and the sorrow are all authentic. By capturing the effects of systemic racism in everyday home life, Wilson effectively holds a mirror to the systemic injustices of our society.
Wilson’s work demonstrates how art can be effective when used as a mirror to society and utilized to reflect the complexity of everyday life. Yet Wilson’s play, despite showing the hardships of the characters, also shows hope by depicting the resilience of its characters.
The Kennedy Center wrote, “Wilson’s works championed ‘everyday’ people who came from a variety of class backgrounds.”
Wilson’s depiction of everyday people and their hopes and dreams, while being authentic to their lived experience, demonstrates how art, while being authentic, can remain hopeful.
While depicting life authentically in art is important, the question of how it should be done remains a relevant subject of debate. A famous example of this is “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” by Mark Twain. Set in the Antebellum South, the novel follows the adventures of the titular characters Huck Finn and Jim, a runaway enslaved man.
The language in Twain’s novel is reflective of 19th-century Southern dialect and customs, and holds a mirror to society in depicting the ugliness of societal norms in the Antebellum South. Some critics argued, while there are anti-racist themes to the story, Twain’s frequent use of racial slurs and depiction of enslaved people minimizes the message Twain was trying to share.
Others might argue Twain’s depiction of the South makes his message more powerful because it directly shows the ugliness of the society Twain is critiquing. Over a century later, this debate remains relevant in considering art’s role in society and the impact it can have on its audience, particularly on marginalized groups.
To say art must only be reflective of our reality or the alternative that it must only reflect an ideal reality, limits art from reaching its true potential in sharing truth. As Wilson’s plays gave light to underrepresented voices and their reality, the artist’s lived experiences in a society can breathe authenticity, relatability and truth into the art.
Art in all of its forms can be effective in holding a mirror to society, but it also succeeds in its messages by reflecting the hopes, the dreams and the imagination of people in our reality.
David Asamoah is a sophomore studying journalism at Ohio University. Please note the opinions expressed in this column do not represent those of The Post. Want to talk to David about his column? Email him at da602024@ohio.edu.
